Diving board stand



NOV. 28, 1933. p v ND 1,936,777

DIVING BOARD STAND Filed Dec. 16, 1932 Inventor;

Paul Verna? Townsend mm M Attorneys,

i afented Nov. 28, 1933 curred STATES 1,936,777 DIVING Bonn!) STAND 1 Paul Vernor Townsend'Anderson, Ind, assignor to American Playground Device Company, An-

derson, In

at, a corporation 7 V Application December 16, 1932 Serial No. 647,566 Claims. (Cl. 27266) Thisinventiou relates to the art of diving boards and particularly to a fulcrum over which the board is bentupon the springing of the board.

Eeretofore, it has been the practice to employ 5 a fulcrum which could be shifted longitudinally of the board so as to increase or decrease the length of the board extending beyond the fulcrum toward the pool. When a light-weight person employs the board, a longer length of the board beyond the fulcrum may be employed to give the desired spring than Where a heavier-weight person uses it. In many cases the fulcrum is neglected to be shifted between these two conditions and the result has been that the boards have often cracked on a line directly across the fulcrum. Also, heretofore it has been the practice to employ a fulcrum having practically a single line contact laterally across the board so that not only was the board bent sharply over such a fulcrum but by the very nature of it the fibers in the board were tended to be damaged and fractured.

A principal object of my invention is to pro-- vide a fulcrum for a diving board which will not have to be shifted to accommodate the weight of persons and which will automatically con1- pensate for such varying weight. A further import-ant object of my invention is to provide a support or fulcrum which will give a substantial area of contact to the under side of the board rather than a mere line contact and which area will automatically increase as an increasing load is applied to the board.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of the invention which is made in reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a structure embodying my invention, and

Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the two views.

I form a rear standard 10, here shown as being built up from tubing to have a horizontally disposed top bar 11 to which the rear end of the diving board 12 is rigidly attached by some suitable means, here shown as by the bolts 13. Forwardly of this frame 10, I provide a table-like structure having the four supporting legs i l, 15, 16, and 1'7, the tops of which support a platform 13 which curves downwardly and forwardly from its rear end so as to have the front end thereof at a lower elevation than the rear end. The board 12 is supported by this platform 18 so as to have all) the board extend on outwardly therebeyond to fulcrumover the rear higher portion of the plat-. form. .The curvature of the platform is so formed thatv whenfjthe board is resting thereover inthe normal position free of load, there is a substantial area of-contact by the board with theplatform across'this rear end. Now as the load is applied to theouter free end of the board, the board being secured by its'rear end; the free end of the board will be, carrieddownwardly to bend the board over the platform 13 to bring more of the board into contact with the platform, the exact increased area depending upon the load applied. The curvature of the platform is so formed that the area of contact will gradually increase in proportion to the load. In this manner the heavier the load applied to the outer end of the board, the shorter the effective length of that outer end becomes and the greater area of the platform is employed over which the board is bent.

In order to brace the rear standard 10, I preferably employ a connecting bar or tube 19 interconnecting the standard with the table structure. In order to keep the board 12 from unduly bouncing-off of the table 18' upon the diver leaving the board, I yieldingly, tie down the board in such a manner that such bouncing will be prevented but the free action of the board will not be interfered with. Sucha tie may take the form as here shown wherein a U-clip 20 is secured to the under side of the board with a cross bar between its ends, through which a rod 21 is freely 'passedto have a spring compressively bear against the top side of the bar and the under side of an adjusting nut 22 on the upper end of the rod. The lower end of the rod 21 is attached to the bar 19.

Thus it is to be seen that with use of my structure, there is no necessity for shifting the fulcrum to accommodate persons of diiferent weights since the fulcrum automatically shifts in accordance with the weight applied to the board. Also it is to be seen that by employing the curved platform of an appreciable area, the stresses tending to break the board are widely distributed and are not concentrated on any single line across the board. My invention is of particular advantage and importance at public swimming pools where the board is constantly being used by persons whose weigths vary conwhich had heretofore been constantly present with the old style fulcrums.

While I have here shown and described my invention in the form as now best known to me, it is obvious that structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A diving board mounting comprising a rear support to which the rear end of the board is secured and a fulcrum spaced forwardly of said support consisting of a table of appreciable area over whichthe board extends, thetable being curved downwardly and forwardly normally providing a clearance between its front end and the under side of the board.

2. The combination of a diving board, a rear standard to which the board is secured near its rear end, a table under the board and forwardly of the standard located to. have an appreciable length of the board extend forwardly beyond the table, said tablehaving a width equal at least tothat of the board and having an appreciable area thereof initially in contact with the under side of the board, said platform' being sloped downwardly and forwardly away from said area.

3; The combination of a diving board, a rear standard to which the board is secured near its rear end, a table under the board and forwardly of the standard located to have an appreciable length of the board extend forwardly beyond the table, said table having a width equal at least to that of the board and having an appreciable area thereof initially in contact with the under side of the board, said platform being sloped downwardly and forwardly away from said area, said slope being in the form of a curved surface substantially the same as that assumed by the under side of the board upon its being bent downwardly from said area by a load applied at its forward end.

4. A diving board, a support to which one end of the board is secured, a fulcrum forwardly of the support comprising essentially a table sloped downwardly. and forwardly supporting the board initially by an appreciable area thereof and to provide an increasing area as the board may be bent thereover.

5. A diving board, a support to which one end of the board is secured, a'fulcrum forwardly of the support comprising essentially a table sloped downwardly and forwardly supporting the board initially by an appreciable area thereof and to provide an increasing area as the board may be bent thereover, and means yieldingly retaining the board in contact with said initial area.

PAUL v. TOWNSEND. 

